Be ready for when the media call

Yum! Brands, and its KFC unit, recently got media attention as Greenpeace looked at raw materials in its packaging. Greenpeace said chicken buckets in global markets contained fiber from Indonesian rainforests. Yum! Brands responded quickly, and its situation illustrates just how packaging professionals may become part of a media event. Your corporate communications people usually have the lead here, but here is a quick checklist of things you have to be ready for in developing a response:

• Be straightforward in your response. Tell the truth.
• Move fast. Today’s e-communications world moves at incredible speed.
• Direct everything through a designated spokesperson to be sure the message is consistent.